Saturday, 20 July 2013

As well as weeding ,getting rid of ants and bees and planting and tidying, this week I have also been making this easy seating area in the garden...my very own summer blogging paradise...

I have always wanted one of those comfy outdoor sofa's , but garden furniture can be soo expensive.....so when I came across some great DIY pallet seating areas on pinterest (see my Pallet fun board for this and many other great pallet projects...), I knew this would be a great project to try out!!

I asked at my local Wickes if they had some pallets to give away, and they were very helpful and told me I could help myself to any bits and bobs left outside around the back of the shop....

(This article has some great advice on where to look for free pallets)

So not only did I cart home 8 pallets, but I also came away with enough free wood to cover them all...

(Luckily my local Wickes is only a 5 minute walk away, and they let me borrow one of their trolleys to take them home....never the less: pallets are heavy, so my arms were aching for days...)

I had the perfect area in mind for my DIY pallet seat...this corner in the garden always ended up as a dumping ground, and as it is always partly shaded would be a great place to relax out of the direct sunlight in the heat of the day...

I made sure the pallets I chose was all the same size, so I could simply stack them on top of each other...the condition of some of the pallets wasn't great, but I wasn't too bothered, as I was given enough wood to cover them all) You can find some great advice on choosing pallets for craft projects at painted furniture ideas (they have also some great advice on disassembling pallets and how to clean and prep pallets before painting)

I stacked 3 pallets on top of each other for the perfect seating-height , in an L-shape to fit the little nook in our garden...I put a couple of pallets upright along the back wall to create a back rest....

I had to cut down one of these pallets to fit, but other than that, it was pretty much like building with lego...

Unfortunately I have somehow managed to delete the pictures I took at this stage of the build, but as you would have to fit your own pallet seating (should you decide to give this a go) to a suitable area in your own garden, it is simply a case of playing around with the shape until you are happy...

Then I cut the bits of wood to cover my pallet seating base...

Unfortunately in the British climate, this sort of project outdoors can not be expected to survive the winter....So I am already planning on how to reuse the pallets when summer is over:

So apart from covering the pallets to hide the state of some of them, this will also give them some protection from the elements of nature.....So that I can reuse the "good" ones for future projects....I could of course have treated the pallets, by painting them, but we are also planning on chopping some of them up come winter, and using them as firewood...(We are planning on getting a wood burning stove installed in our front room ) so I didn't want to add to the chemical composition in the wood...

With my pallet seating area covered in (mismatched) wood...(up until now this project has not cost me a penny....not bad hey?)...it was now time to prettify it a bit...

A couple of coats of Exterior Satin paint in "Duck egg", not only brightened my seating area up, but will also add to the protection of the pallet wood...

I ordered some cut to measure foam from efoam.co.uk ,got some cheap fabric in the sale, that also happened to be in the colour "duck egg"...and sewed up some slip on covers on my pathetic mini sewing machine...(I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm not a haberdashery sort of girl...)

On the back of the cover for the foam that will go along the back of the seating, I sewed on a strip of Velcro.....

...the Velcro will help keep the foam pad from falling down...

Placing the covered back-foam in place up against the back of the seating area, I marked off on the wood where the hook-bit of the Velcro would have to go to match the position on the foam...

Mr treated me to a new toy/tool....(Love you honi!!) A staple gun!!

First I applied some double sided tape along the line I'd marked out for placing the Velcro strip...

This will help keep the Velcro in place, and will also allow you to adjust the positioning to best match the position of the opposite Velcro on the foam pad...

When I was happy that the two Velcro strips matched up, I used my new gadget to secure the Velcro to the wood....

There we have it.....

I also sewed up some new and colourful cushion covers to use on some old cushions I had laying about....

And voila: what used to be an obsolete corner of our garden, used for dumping things, has now been transformed into a comfy, shaded seating area to relax in over the summer...

I spent £10 on the paint , and about £15 on the material...the foam cost £36...so creating this cosy nook in our garden, cost me in total just over £60....

...not bad hey?

I know I will be enjoying our garden so much more this summer now that We have somewhere to cosy up....and with all my hard work getting the garden up to scratch this week, I am really looking forward to spending some lazy summer days here!!

What do you think of my new garden seating area?

Fancy making your own?

I'd love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below!!

This was my last (scheduled) Saturday DIY tutorial for a while....as I will be taking some time out to enjoy the garden with Little Miss Moo (and of course poor Mr....when he's not working) over the summer holidays!! There may be the odd project or two, as I think it will be hard for me to quit making and crafting all together, but I also want to concentrate on my

NOSTALGIECAT SUMMER KIDS CLUB

that will start next week...

So if you are looking for things to do with your kids over the summer holidays, pop by on Wednesday when I will be posting about creative boredom busters to keep the kids happy...

Thursday, 18 July 2013

...and boy, was it about time!!

I have already confessed to being less than green fingered....and with the good weather arriving so late this year, our little garden was in quite a state...

At least that's my excuse...

Truth is: I have never really had any interest in gardening, and could always think of a million other things I'd rather do. When we moved into our place a year and a half ago, the garden was in an OK state...nothing special, but neat and tidy. But apart from Mr occasionally running the lawnmower over the grass, we have done nothing to it...nothing!!

Nothing but use and abuse it: Its been a playground, a workshop and a dumping ground...and it was looking a little battered...

I had made a few feeble attempts to prettify it, putting out some potted flowers here and there....But through pure neglect they soon died...

So our garden was full of pots filled with dead flowers and covered with weeds...

In the last couple of weeks I have been using the garden as my painting workshop, and therefore have been spending a lot of time out there....I soon became acutely aware that our garden was in an embarrassing state: Apart from the obvious weeds and lack of upkeep...it was crawling with ants (that also had started to make their way into our bathroom!!!!EEEK!) and bees had made home in one of our old outdoor toilets (that has been converted into sheds) at the back of the garden...

SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE!!

As I am starting my SUMMER KIDS CLUB next week, and are having some of Little Miss Moo's friends around on Monday for some crafty fun in the garden , IT HAD TO BE DONE FAST!!

I decided to treat the garden as another project...So this week I have been giving our poor neglected garden a long overdue makeover!!

So the first thing I did was to tackle the weeds...

.....and boy, was it hard work!!

In the sweltering heat (we have had a heat wave her in the UK recently), there was blood, sweat, but luckily no tears....I kept pretending I was Kim Wilde (the 80's pop star turned TV gardener) to get me through it, singing "we're the kids of America" on top of my voice....the neighbours must have thought I'd lost the plot!!

So anyway, when I finally had removed about a zillion dandy lions, and got rid of all the dead flowers, I sprayed the affected areas with a mix of 10% vinegar and some citrus oil to kill off all the weed roots....You can of course buy some weed killer, but I didn't like the thought of spraying the garden with chemicals....You can also use boiled water with salt to kill off weeds...

I also uncovered the home of our ant-problem, and pored some boiling water into their nest...(I know this sounds cruel, but I genuinely believe that this was (slightly) more humane than using shop bought chemical ant killer)...I also mixed up some mint oil with vinegar that I sprayed around the areas I had noticed the ants frequenting...Apparently ants hate strong smells like mint, rosemary and cinnamon. Click Here for some more simple and natural ant control remedies...

As I told you in my Monday post, I called the pest control guys out to deal with the bees...( this is not a problem I would recommend you should ever try to tackle yourself (unless of course you are very brave and know what you are doing!!) as the bees can get quite aggressive...)

I also spent last Sunday cleaning up our garden furniture....I used some sugar soap mixed up with warm water...soaked the wood with it and let it sit on for about 15 minutes before scrubbing with a scourer...

I was planning on painting the furniture, but decided against it; as they are in a bad condition, with the wood cracking in places and I don't think they will last us till next year..... it would be a waste of both money and time...But simply giving them a good clean, has made a huge improvement...

Before and after..

So with all the weeds, bees, ants and dead flowers removed, the hardest part of operation "garden makeover" was done....phew!!

Now came the fun part:

Making it all pretty!!

I got Mr to pick up some white gravel from homebase on his way home from work, and put this down in areas.

Now the garden was looking neat and tidy, and just needed some colour injection...so off I went to the garden centre! I usually don't like spending money on flowers (as I am known to kill them off in a couple of weeks...), but on this occasion, I decided it would be an investment, and promised myself that this time I will not neglect them!!....I guess time will tell!

So I came home with 3 big carrier bags full of flowers to brighten up the garden...

I did also pick up a couple of cheap terracotta pots, but as I (as always) was on a tight budget, I decided to use what I already had of pots...

This half dead rosemary shrub, for instance was left behind by the previous owners of our house, and was in this ugly, terracotta look plastic pot...the bottom of the pot was gone, but I decided I would keep it (as rosemary should help ward off the ants) and try to revive the shrub and simply give the pot a lick of paint...

I gave the pot a quick clean, then I used some duck egg exterior satin paint...

I also painted the rim of the terracotta pots that I bought to match...

The previous owners had also left behind these old hanging baskets...

I decided to spray paint them blue, but used a primer first to make the finish a bit more weather proof..

Planting...

Like I said earlier, I am not really a gardening sort of girl, so I didn't brave any planting directly into the soil in our garden, but stuck to filling my various pots and pans with flowers (clearly marked "easy to grow" in the shop...)As I am no expert, I might have done this all wrong, but what I did was basically this:

I filled the bottom of my containers with bricks and rubble (to "pad" it out a bit), then filled with multi purpose garden soil before adding my plants and flowers...

Then I gave them all a nice shower of water with some miracle grow plant feed...

A huge improvement to how it was before...don't you think?

If you are wondering what is going on with the half dead rose bush in the picture above: I am trying to save it, as that is "Magic", our late cat's ashes are in the soil, and I feel quite sentimental towards it...

I have not done anything for now to improve the lawn, that is very dry and patchy...that will be a job for next year, as I think it will have to be dug over and relayed....a major job!!

The battered old cooking pot, that I've filled with pansies, used to belong to my morfar (mums dad)...and he used it to empty his boat of water when he was out fishing...

Mr thought I was nuts for dragging it with me all the way from Norway, but I love it!!

The glass floats hanging on the wall of the old loo/shed also used to belong to him...

I've also used an old enamel piss-pot to plant some pansies in...

Use what you've got, I say...

There is still a huge pile of rubble at the back of the garden, that Mr has promised me to take to the dump at the weekend, and I am still working on the seating area I will show you on Saturday, but I am really pleased to finally have a garden I don't need to be embarrassed about....

Yes it's not perfect, but at least it is weed and bug free, and looking tidy and colourful....

...just in time for Little Miss Moo's summer holidays...

So now when I've finished writing this post, I am going to sit in my pretty little garden with a cup of coffee and enjoy the fruits of my (very hard) labour...

Hopefully I can keep it this way...

Apologies for this post being a day late, but I managed to lock myself out of the house yesterday, so couldn't get back in to finish the post...

I may have to find a secret place to keep a spare set of keys in my lovely "new" garden somewhere...shhhhh!

Thanks for popping by...

If you have any gardening advice for me, it will be greatly appreciated...

Sunday, 14 July 2013

Summer time....

What a scorcher it has been here in the UK the last couple of days....

Looks like summer has finally arrived in full!!

It has been perfect weather for my painting marathon....but I must admit: yesterday was too hot for grafting!!

But I am not complaining!!

Playing in the garden, catching some rays...the smell of sunscreen and cooling down in Little Miss Moo's paddling pool....then BBQ's in the afternoon...

hmmm...bliss!!

Although I must admit...it is days like these I realise how much I miss living by the sea...

and the long balmy summer nights in Norway!!

But my Dad has booked us tickets to go back in August...so not long now!!

This is Little Miss Moo's last week at Nursery before they break off for summer holidays ...

So this week I will be preparing for the Nostalgiecat kids summer club, that I have already told you about....

I made a decision to expand on this idea a couple of weeks ago, and have invited Little Miss Moo's friends to join us for a couple of hours every Monday over the summer holidays for some crafty fun...

I have made a boredom busting pinterest board called kids crafts and fun, that I am using as inspiration for some of the projects and activities I have planned...

Feel free to have a look yourself...there are tips and inspiration for all sorts of games, crafts and science projects that will keep your kids entertained throughout the summer....both outside and on rainy days....

So every Monday, starting next week, I will be hosting the Nostalgiecat Kids Summer club here at our home in Hertfordshire....The Posts will go out on the Wednesday, where I will show you what we did (and tell you how we did it...in true nostalgiecat fashion)...

So this week I have to transform our garden from "painting workshop" into" Kid zone"...

I have previously confessed to being less than green-fingered, and our garden does definitely reflect this: Weeds everywhere (And yes...they can be pretty, but not when they are taking over the place...)

So a bit of de-weeding is on top of the agenda!!....and adding some colourful flowers to brighten things up a bit!! (The beautiful flowers in the pictures in this post is NOT from our garden, but snapped around the neighbourhood....for some inspiration!!)

I have already got Mr to take away a pile of rubble at the back of our garden down the dump...

...and I have scrubbed our old garden furniture clean with some sugar soap...

I was going to paint them, but realised it would be a waste of time, as I don't think they will survive another winter....

Oh...and I almost forgot: Bees!!

On Friday we discovered we had bee's setting up home in one of the old outdoor toilets (now used as sheds) at the back of our garden....now, I love bees, and I am also aware that they are in danger of becoming extinct...which will have serious consequences for the future of our planet...See this article on bees in the guardian.....so I really didn't want to, but we had to call the pest control guys , as they (the bees, not the pest control guys) was becoming quite aggressive...( I may not have been stung by any bees but it sure did sting my wallet to call those guys out....grrrrr!!) So anyway, we are now bee free again...

The old outdoor toilets in our back garden...where the bees had set up home...

...and my dead flowers in the pots...

And apart from de-weeding and pretty-fying the garden in preparation for the Kids club, I will also be making a simple and comfy seating area out there! That will be my last Saturday DIY tutorial for a while, as I am giving myself a holiday from my projects over the summer....

I want to concentrate on the Kids Club and dedicate some more time to enjoying family life!!

(though there might be the odd little project here and there, as I doubt I will be able to go cold turkey from crafting all summer....)

I hope you will still pop in to see me here at nostalgiecat over the summer,

I'd love to hear what you get up to with the kids over the holidays...